RSS
Hezbollah Twists Western Ideas and Values — and the Media Helps Them
Supporters of Hezbollah attend a protest organized by them against what they said was a violation of national sovereignty, near Beirut international airport, Lebanon, Feb. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
In his recent speech, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem demanded that Israel respect the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from southern Lebanon by February 18 (which Israel has done).
Qassem framed the issue as a matter of “national sovereignty” and condemned any delay as “implementing the demands of the occupation.”
Major media outlets — including Voice of America, France 24, ABC News, and Reuters — picked up his statements with little scrutiny.
These reports followed stories of a woman killed and several others wounded while trying to return to their villages on Sunday, February 16 — two days before the withdrawal deadline.
Voice of America, in the very last paragraph of its report (where fewer readers are likely to see it), mentioned that the Lebanese army had actually warned citizens not to enter areas where its troops had not yet deployed. None of these outlets included the IDF’s account, which stated that it had fired warning shots after spotting unidentified individuals gathering in a military zone.
The framing in these reports is unmistakable: civilians trying to return home, only to be killed and wounded by “occupation” forces poised to violate international agreements.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah — the supposed defender of the people — invokes “sovereignty.” It all fits neatly into a narrative designed to evoke sympathy from Western readers, making it easy to distinguish good (Hezbollah) from evil (Israel).
But here’s the reality: Hezbollah, designated as a terrorist organization in the US, much of Europe, and by many Arab countries, isn’t fighting for actual sovereignty or national independence. Anyone familiar with its history knows that Hezbollah exploits these concepts to justify its own armed control over Lebanon, all with the Iranian regime’s backing.
And despite its rhetoric about international agreements, it is Hezbollah that has systematically violated those very agreements.
Take UN Resolution 1701, for example.
Signed by Lebanon in 2006, it required all armed groups in the country to disarm, allowing only the Lebanese Armed Forces to possess weapons. Hezbollah never complied.
Instead, it amassed a vast arsenal, smuggling in weapons from Iran via Syria. Beginning on October 8, 2023, Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israeli towns almost daily until Israel finally retaliated.
By November 2024, 45 Israeli civilians had been killed, over 60,000 residents had fled their homes, and countless businesses and farms were destroyed.
Yet Hezbollah isn’t the only one with a selective memory when it comes to international agreements. The UN has largely ignored Hezbollah’s blatant violations of Resolution 1701. No new resolutions have been passed calling on Lebanon to enforce it. Meanwhile, since the IDF entered Gaza in October 2023, Western media have meticulously covered Israel’s military operations. Hezbollah’s near-daily rocket attacks, which forced millions of Israelis into shelters, have been relegated to footnotes — if they’re mentioned at all.
After all, the media are far less interested in the casualties of the “oppressor.”
And what does Hezbollah’s version of “sovereignty” actually mean? In Europe, national sovereignty is understood as an expression of the people’s will, not the ability of armed militias to impose their rule.
Qassem himself made Hezbollah’s stance clear:
The problem is not that [Lebanese authorities] are ensuring the safety of civilians at a difficult time,” Qassem said. “The problem is that this is the implementation of Israel’s command. We are facing a real problem. Where is the national sovereignty? Are we employees of Israel, implementing the demands of the occupation?” [emphasis added]
In other words, Hezbollah sees protecting civilians as a concession to Israel. This isn’t about sovereignty — it’s about control.
Hezbollah’s authority is built on fear, and Western media, whether through omission or framing, keep providing it with cover.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Hezbollah Twists Western Ideas and Values — and the Media Helps Them first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
RSS
Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports
People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
RSS
Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.